Cruise to Southeast Asia, Part Three

Arriving in Ho Chi Minh City was quite memorable. We cruised up the Saigon River for several hours seeing mostly rice fields on either side of the banks. The Mekong Delta is impressively fertile. Little trace remained of devastation from the war, although we learned in the War Remnants Museum that the long-term effects of Agent Orange are still felt, with physical deformities now occurring in the second and third generations. The city itself, however, seems fully recovered and quite prosperous. On our excursion, we visited Notre Dame Cathedral and the Post Office, both reminders of the colonial past, before going to the museum. As one would expect, the exhibits, largely photographic, were disturbing, with great blame laid on the United States for its violence against civilians and its use of Agent Orange. The cruelties of the Diem regime were also a key theme. Ron was depressed by the museum, but I felt strongly that we, as Americans living during the period, needed to see the evidence collected by the Vietnamese themselves, even if its propaganda function was so apparent. I certainly did not agree with a woman on the cruise who told us the next morning that she was sorry for the children who were exposed to such a one-sided view of history (with the implication that cruise participants should not have been exposed to it either). If she found the messages that upsetting, why was she visiting Vietnam in the first place? Surely she knew that we could not escape some reminders of the war. Be that as it may, the excursion culminated with a stop at the huge city market, which reminded me very much of markets in Mexico. Stalls of local products, including food but also gimcrack trinkets for tourists. I was suspicious of the gold and silver items on view but bought a nice string of beads for $10 from a woman whose daughter, it turned out, was studying at Arizona State University. (So much for being brainwashed by the museum.) In the afternoon there was a second excursion to the Cu Chi tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the way. We didn't go, but I regret now that I didn't. Those who did go said that it offered a unique glimpse of what life was like for the other side.

After Vietnam, our next landfall, the resort island of Ko Samui in Thailand, was rather like Disneyland. Back in the sixties, we were told, the island was first popularized as a travel spot by hippies celebrating it as an unspoiled native settlement. "Unspoiled" is scarcely the right word these days. Once again we saw tourist facilities such as spas and resorts next door to small shops where gasoline for motorcycles was sold in liter bottles. Attractions included a twelve-meter high statue of Buddha (Disneyland indeed!), a coconut plantation featuring a trained monkey (getting your picture taken with him was $1 extra), and a monastery with the mummified body of one of its former members on display. Cultural and religious differences aside, treating that as a tourist stop was tasteless. (On the other hand, as I write, news continues to pour out of Leicester University about the discovery of Richard III's skeleton, while the Richard III Society is proudly showing on its web page the monumental tomb it plans to set up in Leicester Cathedral--why does the excavation seem so romantic and the display of the monk's body so awful? Furthermore, there has been considerable discussion of the forensic evidence indicating that the king's death was gruesome, with numerous postmortem injuries also inflicted. I can happily talk about the forensics in a classroom or over dinner, as I did last night. Archaeological desensitization, I suppose.)

To be sure, the cruise was not intended to stop at Ko Samui at all. Our original port of call following Ho Chi Minh City was Sihanoukville in Cambodia. Phnom Phnh and Sihanoukville were closed to tourists, however, because of the official funeral ceremonies for king Norodom Sihanouk, who had died at the age of 89 in October. I was astonished that he had lived so long--pretty much the last survivor among the major players of that time. One final, unexpected event of our stop at Ko Samui: probably the most amazing sunset I have ever seen in my life. That was worth the visit, even if the rest was not.